


The Man I Really Am

by balrogtweety



Category: Queer as Folk (US)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-28
Updated: 2016-06-28
Packaged: 2018-07-18 18:50:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7326253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/balrogtweety/pseuds/balrogtweety
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I thought that when Brian and Justin spoke to one another in S5E13, that there was more to the story. This is what I thought was said which changed the ending of the show.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Song is by Survivor called The Search is Over. I do not own the song and meant no infringement. Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 1 

 

“I had a dream last night that we were in our new house,” Justin began.

“Cooking, gardening, sitting in front of the fire,” Brian said.

“Not exactly,” Justin replied. He got under the covers. “You were riding me in the stables, diving into me in the pool, slamming me on the tennis court.” Justin made his way back up and kissed the back of Brian’s neck.

“Well, the gives new meaning to U.S. Open,” Brian sighed.

“I better start practicing my serve,” Justin stated as he got under the blankets heading to suck Brian’s cock.

“Wouldn’t you rather just cuddle?” Brian asked.

Justin came out from under the blankets and furrowed his brows. “What?”

“I said wouldn’t you just rather just lie here…”

“No no no…I heard what you just said,” Justin interrupted him, brushing his hands across his forehead. “You said cuddle.”

“So.”

“So, I have never ever once heard you even use that word much less actually want to do it.”

“Okay, can we just turn the lights out…”

“No. no. Brian Kinney fucks, sucks, rims, rams, but never cuddles.”

“Okay, so I used a word that offends your sense of abilities. Forgive me, I apologize. I’ll never do it again.” Brian shakes his head emphasizing the last words.

“No, it’s more than just that,” Justin replied getting out of bed. “Everyday we get closer to being married, the person I know gets further away.

“I’m right here,” Brian replied.

“But it’s not you. Looks like you, feels like you but YOU, you would never go to your own stag party and not fuck every hot guy in sight. You would never be more interested in gardening than getting laid.”

“I’m just trying to make you happy,” Brian stated with a glare in his eyes.

“I want you to do what makes you happy, not me.”

They both stared at one another waiting for the other to speak.

“What about you?” Brian asked. He heard a sigh as he watched Justin sit on the side of the bed with his back to Brian. “Yes you, not going to New York?”

“Fuck New York!” Justin replied as he rose from the bed getting into it.

“Conquering the art world!”

“Fuck the art world!”

“Why?” Brian asked. “Because you’re afraid?”

“I’m not afraid,” Justin replied.

“Then what?”

“I don’t want it.”

“Bull shit.”

“I don’t,” Justin replied with a determinate look on his face. “It means nothing.”

“Would it still mean nothing if I wasn’t here?” Brian asked.

Justin sighed. “How do you expect me to give you a rational response when the circumstances you presented are completely suppositional and as such has no basis in reality.”

“Just answer the Goddamn question!” Brian loudly asked.

“I don’t know!” Justin stared at Brian and then laid down in to bed with Brian looking at him.

There was silence in the room for what felt like a few minutes.

“Well I do,” Brian replied as he took hold of Justin’s hand. “I don’t want to live with someone who sacrificed their life and called it love… to be with me.”

Justin didn’t know what to say. He smiled. “Neither do I.”

They stared at one another for a few seconds more until Brian laid beside Justin with Justin’s hand in his. Their heads came together letting their words sink in. Justin turned his head towards Brian.

********

 

“What happened?” Justin asked.

“What do you mean?” Brian asked back.

“Since we got back together you have changed,” Justin replied. “We planned a wedding together, then the stag, the house. What’s going on, Brian?”

Brian looked to Justin then turned his head. “Since you came into my life, you changed me. What do you want from me?”

“I want the man I met back,” Justin stated. “I loved that Brian. But this Brian right now is different who I also love. You have settled for something I know you don’t want.”

“I’ve had some time to think about what I want in life,” Brian responded. “I’m not getting any younger. There I said it. I want Kinnetik to take off, I want you happy. You can do that in New York with your art.”

“But New York is not what I want,” Justin stated. “I told that to Lindsey but then she said that New York is my opportunity of a lifetime. I told her that I didn’t want New York that you were my opportunity of a lifetime. I can do my art right here in Pittsburgh. When I lived with Ethan, my art was for shit. When I was in California, I couldn’t paint. Since I came back here, my art has taken off. Just because I got an article in the Art Forum doesn’t mean that my art with take off there.”

“So what do you want to do?”

“How about since we told everyone that there is no wedding then we commit ourselves on paper. We don’t have to get married. All I want is for you to be here when I go to bed and be here when I wake up in the morning. We’ll run Kinnetik together and we’ll make a big fat fucking success out of it. I can do my art out at Britin when it strikes me. I can ask Sidney to do a show here and there. We can do this. By the way, I don’t want you to be monogamous. Just be here for me when I need you.” Justin turned to look into Brian’s eyes.

“About being monogamous, I haven’t been with anyone for two months since my last check up. I wanted to find out if I could do it and that was a promise I made to myself.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Justin exclaimed as he sat up in bed. “I never thought you would do that. What about the rest?”

“I agree with you,” Brian said. “I thought I would never say this but Lindsey was wrong. I don’t think she liked it that you were going to stay with me and take my son to another country. I think she wanted me to go back to what I was before I ever met you so she was trying to tell you to go to New York. How could I have been so stupid?”

“That was my way of thinking also,” Justin replied. “I hate to say this but I think she was trying to channel herself through me by saying that the only way for my art to take off would be for me to be in New York. Would she leave Mel if someone said that about her art?”

“No, she wouldn’t. Are you sure about this?”

“Yes,” Justin said. “Let’s do what we want and forget about everyone else. This is our life, not their’s. We’ll set up Britin and live there on the weekends. No one knows about the place. It could be our getaway. We’ll keep the loft for weekdays. Daphne told me to think for myself and to hell with what others think. I want to stay here.”

“Good,” Brian said. “We have plans to make tomorrow. But right now…”

He proceeded to make Justin forget all he said tonight. Brian’s hand made its way under the blankets and took the cock in his fingers. He started a slow stroke up and a slow stroke down which brought a moan out of Justin, kissing the neck below his lips. Then he rose his head.

“I have a better way to explain,” Brian said as he rose from the bed. “Put on some shorts and come with me.” Brian made his way to the computer and plugged in the speakers. He started a music program and selected the song.

Justin rose from the bed and put on shorts. He stood in the middle of the loft waiting for Brian. It was then that a song came over the system.

“Someone sent this to me after I asked you to marry me when you were in your studio. The words meant a lot to me. After I heard the song, the words expressed what I want to say to you.”

“What’s this?” Justin asked as Brian took him in his arms.

“Just listen,” Brian replied as they began to dance.

 

How can I convince you

What you see is real

Who am I to blame you

For doubting what you feel

I was always reaching

You were just a boy I knew

I took for granted

The friend I have in you

 

I was living for a dream

Loving for a moment

Taking on the world

That was just my style

Now I look into your eyes

I can see forever

The search is over

You were with me all the while

 

Can we last forever

Will we fall apart

At times it’s so confusing

The questions of the heart

You followed me through changes

And patiently you’d wait

‘Til I came to my senses through

Some miracle of fate

 

Now the miles stretch out behind me 

Loves that I have lost

Broken hearts lie victims of the game

Then good luck it finally struck

Like lightning from the blue

Every highway leads me back to you

 

Now at last I hold you

Now all is said and done

The search has come full circle

Our destinies are one

So if you ever loved me

Showed me that you give a damn

You’ll know for certain

The man I really am

 

Brian put the song on repeat as it started again. He watched as tears flowed down Justin’s face.

The song touched Justin’s heart. Every word that was said he knew to be true. He rose on his toes and kissed Brian.

When Justin kissed him, Brian knew that Justin understood his words. This made his heart fly. After the kiss Brian spoke.

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

As the song played in the background, Brian took Justin’s hand and led him to the bed. He slid Justin’s underwear off and then his own. Both stood naked as their eyes met.

Justin dropped slowly to the bed and moved his way to the centre. He watched as Brian licked his lips and moved his body down beside Justin’s.

Brian was now happy that Justin understood what he meant in those words from the song. As he watched Justin, his heart pounded in his chest knowing that he was going to make love to Justin. This was not fucking anymore but the love that each of them shared. His lips encased Justin’s as his hand roamed over the alabaster skin.

As Justin’s skin was being caressed lovingly, his cock filled. It was then taken into Brian’s hand. His body moved on its own accord. It wanted Brian to fill him until he would explode. But Justin wanted to savor the feeling of Brian making love to him so he calmed his body down.

Brian moved on top of Justin and brought their cocks together. He moved his body up and down over Justin’s causing a friction that made Justin’s head tilt back exposing his throat. When Brian saw the skin on his throat, he quickly ran his tongue up and down until he came to the spot behind Justin’s ear and nipped at it. This brought out a moan.

Justin knew he wouldn’t last if Brian kept up this routine.

“I want you inside me,” Justin whispered, spreading his legs.

Brian heard the words and reached over to the bowl on the nightstand. He grabbed a condom and lube. He rose off Justin and squirted some lube on his fingers. With his hand, he touched the opening with one finger. Brian then saw Justin’s cock twitch and ran his tongue up the underside while his finger entered the body below him.

Justin’s hand went into Brian’s hair as his body was prepared. His hips rose off the bed, wanting more contact with Brian’s body. He moaned again when two fingers breached him.

“Now!” Justin demanded.

Brian rose up on his knees between Justin’s legs and put the condom on himself. He leaned over and kissed Justin as his cock entered Justin’s body. Completely inside, he waited until Justin was ready for him. After a few minutes he watched as Justin nodded and then Brian pulled out and moved slowly inside again.

Justin could feel his skin perspire as Brian made love to him. Each time Brian entered him, Justin could feel him brush against his prostate.

“Ahhh!” Justin screamed.

Brian continued to make love to Justin. He kissed sensitive spots behind Justin’s ear and along his collar bone. He knew Justin wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer from the moans that came from the man beneath him. Brian took Justin’s cock into his hand and started stroking it up and down. As the beads of cum gathered on the end, Brian rubbed the juices over the sensitive head making more appear.

Justin’s arms came up behind Brian’s back and he tried to grab onto something solid. He could feel himself get closer as Brian kept brushing his prostate again and again. Then he screamed.

“Brian!”

“Justin”

Brian came inside the condom with such force he thought it burst. Justin released his cum over his fingers as some of it hit both their chests. Brian laid down on Justin to control his breathing. He then moved and cleaned then both up. He went to shut the music off and went back to bed. He gathered Justin into his arms and lightly kissed him.

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

Justin kissed him back until he laid his head on Brian’s chest. He was exhausted.

“Get some sleep,” Brian whispered. “We have a big day tomorrow.”

“Okay,” Justin breathed.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

Brian was having the greatest dream of Justin sucking his cock. He felt a tingle in his lower back letting him know that he was close to coming. Somehow, this didn’t feel right so he opened his eyes and raised the blanket. He watched as Justin bobbed up and down on his cock. The sensations running through his body was enough to make him raise his chest off the bed as he came. When he came back down from his high, Brian felt Justin move up his body, kissing it along the way. Then he felt a kiss on his lips.

“Morning,” Brian breathed.

“Morning,” Justin replied as he continued to kiss Brian.

Brian turned them both over with Justin under him and proceeded to reciprocate by giving Justin a blowjob. After Justin came, Brian moved Justin over him.

“We need to get things done today,” Brian said. “The sooner the better. But first things first.” Brian rose from the bed, looked into his night side table and reached for the box. He got down on his knees beside the bed. “Justin will you marry me on paper and be there for me always, in good times and bad?” He took out the ring he purchased for Justin.

“Yes,” Justin whispered as he watched Brian place the ring on his finger. “Brian, will you marry me on paper and be there for me always in good times and bad?” He took the other ring.

“Yes,” Brian breathed. He watched as Justin placed the other ring on his finger. “Now let’s shower and get ready for a busy day. I’m going to phone Cynthia and let her know what we’re doing this morning. Then I’m going to phone Phil Hanning and get things rolling with the paper work. Justin, I’m also going to find out if I can get custody of Gus. I don’t want him to leave this country because someone thinks it’s safer to live in another country. Are you going to be alright if we get Gus?”

“Brian, I never wanted them to take him away from you. I’m glad you realize that. When are the girls leaving?”

“Two weeks from now. We need to get a move on if we start today. Now let’s go shower and then I need to make phone calls.”

They both showered and dressed. Justin then went to make breakfast of toast and coffee for the both of them as Brian made his calls.

“We have to be in Phil’s office in half an hour. I told him what’s going on and he will have the appropriate paper work for us to sign. Now let’s go.”

After they entered Phil’s office, they both took a seat. Brian introduced Justin to Phil.

“Now, Brian,” Phil began, “here are the papers for you to join your assets with Justin’s and Justin’s assets to join with yours. Justin you will also sign the same papers.”

After they each signed, Brian look to Phil. “About that other matter.”

“I looked into the custody legal forms that were to be made at the courthouse concerning one Gus Marcus-Peterson and I have to say that I couldn’t find any.”

“What are you saying Phil? That the papers never went through a judge?”

“Yes. I asked the clerk who handles these things and he said that there never were papers brought through a judge for Melanie Marcus to be his second parent. The child is still your son so; therefore, Gus Marcus-Peterson can’t go anywhere unless you give permission. Do you give permission to do this?”

Brian was flabbergasted to know that Gus was still his son under his custody.

“Hell no, I do not give permission,” Brian stated. “I want my son to live with us. So what do we do now?”

“Well, I will enter into court an injunction against Melanie Marcus and Lindsey Peterson preventing them from leaving the country with Gus Marcus-Peterson. I will get right on this and have them served this afternoon. Then I will have a court order stating that you want total custody of your son. Is that good for you?”

“Yes,” Brian stated. “Can you call my office to let me know when you have this all done?”

“The sooner the better,” Phil replied. “Brian, would it be all right if I get someone on this custody order. We have someone here at the firm, James Burnett, who specializes in family problems and he is the best in the state.”

“If it makes me keep my son, then go for it,” Brian said. He rose from his chair. “I will wait for your call then. Thanks Phil for doing this on short notice.”

“My pleasure, Brian,” Phil replied and shook his hand. “Justin, nice to met you.”

“You as well, Phil,” Justin said as he took Phil’s hand.

They left the legal offices and went to Kinnetik. Cynthia brought them both up to speed about the day’s events.

”What are we going to do with Justin?” Cynthia asked Brian with a wink.

“Well, I thought of putting him in the salt mines first and see what he could do,” Brian said with a smirk.

“I could work there as long as I get treated the same as anyone else.”

“Do you even know what the salt mines are, Justin?” Brian asked.

“Yeah. You want me to work at the bottom of the Art Department until you figure out that I can head it someday. Plus you want to know if we have problems concerning anyone we have working there.” Justin gave him his Sunshine smile.

“And they say that love is blind,” Brian stated. “He reads me better than anyone. Yes, you’re right. I have a problem in the Art Department. No one knows you are my lover here other than Cynthia and Ted. I’ll talk with him later when he comes. Cynthia, Justin now owns fifty percent of Kinnetik; so technically, he’s your boss also.”

“Well now, I never had two bosses before,” Cyn replied.

“I would never boss you around, Cynthia. Besides, Brian does enough of that for both of us. If you do have a problem and Brian is not around then come to me and we will hash out the problem. I may need to come to you for help.”

“I will do that and keep that in mind,” Cynthia replied. “Now you have an appointment with Remson Pharmaceuticals at 2 p.m. but the rest of the time you have free. It’s a teleconference call by the way.”

“Okay. I’ll look over the file again before my call. Cynthia, I have a call coming in from Phil about a custody matter that I will tell you about when I get Justin set up in the Art Department. Some will know who he is but the Director, Joey Ardon, doesn’t know. Justin, could you tell the ones you know that you don’t want Joey to know who you are?”

“I can do that. Let’s go.” As they walked down to the Art Department Brian had something else to say. “Justin, when we get there, just play along. I will talk to you later about it.”

As they entered the Art Department, everyone turned their heads. Some were a nod to both and others had smiles on their faces. Brian brought Justin to Joey’s office.

“Joey, I want you to meet Justin Taylor. He’s going to be working for us on a six-month contract. He’s here to get extra credit for PIFA. Justin Taylor meet your new boss, Joey Ardon.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Ardon.” Justin held out his hand and shook Joey’s hand.

“Nice to meet you also, Justin,” Joey replied and took the hand.

“A while ago, PIFA came to me and asked about doing a six month program for students thinking about taking graphic arts as a side line to their art program. I chose Justin amongst twelve applicants. I think he will fit right in with the graphics program. He’s a wiz at Photoshop and other programs.”

“Suzanne, could you show Justin Taylor to his desk and set him up on the computer with his passwords. I will talk to you both later.”

Justin walked beside Suzanne. “It’s good to see you,” Justin whispered.

“You too, but why are we whispering?” Suzanne asked.

“I’ll tell you later,” Justin whispered back.

Suzanne got him set up with his computer and then Brian and Joey approached.

“Justin, I want you on board with Remson Pharmaceuticals,” Brian stated. He then turned to Joey. “I think Suzanne and Justin can work together fine on this campaign.”

“Thank you Mr. Kinney,” Justin replied. He then held out his hand. “You won’t be disappointed.”

“I better not because if I don’t get this contract re-signed it will be your ass that’s on the line. Do I make myself clear?”

“Chrystal clear, Mr. Kinney.”

“And Justin, it’s Brian unless we are with a client.”

“Thanks Brian. I will not disappoint you.”

Brian nodded and left the Art Department with a smile on his face then turned around. “Oh another thing, Justin. When you have a moment, meet me in my office to sign all the papers for Kinnetik.”

“All right, Brian,” Justin replied.

Suzanne got the file on Remson Pharmaceuticals and began to go through it with Justin.

In his office, Brian smirked knowing that Justin was okay with his plan. He knew that something was going on in the art department but couldn’t put his finger on it. As he was thinking, his phone buzzed.

“Yes, Cyn.”

“Phil’s on line one.”

Brian pushed the button. “Yes, Phil, how did it go?”

“Well, Brian, things went well. I got James on board and he knows that you have a case to keep your son in this country. I will work with him on that. As for custody, we filed a court order against Melanie Marcus and Lindsey Peterson from taking your son to another country and we have served them with court orders for you to have custody of your son. I expect them to contact you before the day is out. Be prepared.”

“Thanks Phil. Also, I forgot to tell you that when I signed over my rights it was to keep Gus in a loving, stable family. At the time, Lindsey wasn’t taking any money from me. She then got someone to move in with her to help with the bills. He needed a green card so they were going to get married. I stopped that when I offered to sign over my rights.”

“Now this is something we can use. Did you by any chance keep a record of the money you gave the girls after you signed your rights over?” Phil asked.

“I did as a matter of fact. My CFO, Ted Schmidt, told me to keep a tally of what I gave them. I have it at the office. I’ll send you an email on the file.”

“Thanks, Brian. I’ll get right on this and we will look over that file. After what you just told me, we definitely have a case against them. I’m going to look into their backgrounds.”

“Okay, Phil, I’ll talk to you later. Right now I have to prepare for a meeting.”

“We’ll talk later. Call me if the girls show up.”

“Okay. I’ll do that.”

“Bye Brian.”

Brian emailed the file. He knew that what he was doing was right. He was furious with Lindsey for almost taking two people he loved the most away from him. He was glad Justin was on board with his plans. As he was thinking about Gus, there was a knock on his door.

“Enter.”

“Brian,” Ted began to say, “I have that file for Justin to sign. By the way, isn’t he going to New York?”

“No, Ted,” Brian replied. “He’s going to stay here and help me run Kinnetik. We sign papers this morning and he now owns fifty percent of the company. Technically, he’s your boss now.”

“And right now I want a drink,” came the reply as Justin walked through the door and flopped down on the sofa. “Fuck!” Justin ran his hands over his face.

“What’s the matter, dear,” Brian asked.

“I’ve been in the Art Department for two hours and I found your problem,” Justin replied. “Is he safe?” Justin looked right at Ted.

“Yeah,” Brian chuckled. “He’s as safe as they come. What did you find out?”

“I found out that its Joey doing all the troubles. Suzanne showed me the file on Remson. From the time we did Remsen together when you started Kinnetik, something changed. We were the one’s who put together that campaign. The problems started when you hired Joey. It was little things here and there. Not enough to screw up the campaign but if he keeps doing them, we could lose Remson for good.”

“So what do you propose, Justin?” Ted asked.

“Give Suzanne and I total commitment to this next campaign. You give us total control over it and we will get Remson back to where it once was. There is also something else. I looked over other campaigns that Joey signed off. I know your observant, Brian, but when you hand the Art Department the campaigns, little things have been changed in the files that you wanted on the boards. You probably never noticed them but with an artist eye, I saw the changes. I would like to set up Joey with a task.”

“Go on.” Brian was intrigued with what Justin was going to say. He never thought he would see it but his love for Justin went tenfold.

“I want to set up a company just for Joey. We can make a fake company on the computer. Can we do this in house? Setting up the company, I mean?”

“Do you trust someone in the art department to do this?” Ted asked.

“Yeah,” Justin replied. “I worked with Hadley Johnson before. We went to PIFA together. He’s a wiz on the computer. I’ll ask him.”

“Alright, this is what we’re going to do,” Brian stated, leaning over his desk. “One, you and Suzanne will have total control over Remson. You will report to me and only me on the campaign. We have a teleconference call coming in at two. I want you and Suzanne there. If Joey has a problem with that then tell him to speak to me. Two, I’ll get Hadley to set up a dummy company. If he has to go to the internet to create it, then by all means. I will hand over the campaign to Joey myself and ask him as a favor to do this one. He won’t question it. Three, we will sit back and watch the chips fall where they may. I hope we can catch him doing something. Justin, would you be willing to take over the Art Department if what we suspect Joey is doing?”

“I could do it blindfolded,” Justin replied. “I saw a lot when I worked at Ryder. And from my learning at PIFA, I know I could do the job. I might need help at some time but when that happens, I will come to you.”

“While I have you both here, Ted, I did something that will concern you with your friendship with Mel. I found out that Mel never put through the custody papers for Gus. I still have custody of my son.”

“That’s great Brian,” Ted replied. “Shit! This means that they can’t take Gus to Canada then.”

“That’s right,” Brian replied. “I sent the file of the cancelled checks to my lawyer. The one you helped set up. My lawyer, Phil Hanning, served them with papers saying that they have no right to take Gus Marcus-Peterson out of the country. I expect them to arrive any minute.”

Brian’s door burst open with an angry Mel and Lindsey.

“What the fuck is this?” shouted Mel as she waved papers in front of Brian’s face.

“Brian, I couldn’t stop them,” Cynthia replied.

“That’s okay, Cyn, I got this.” Brian rose from his chair and got water out of the cooler. “What are you talking about?”

“You served us with papers stating that you want custody of our son and that you are stopping us from taking him to Canada,” Mel shouted. “He’s our son. Not yours.”

“As it so happens, Mel, you never put the custody papers through the court and I’m still stated as his father. Why didn’t you do that when you both got married?”

“I would have done it but I didn’t get around to it,” Mel replied.

“You have had years to do that. I did some research on what you are going to come up against in Canada. Did you do that?”

“I figured we would have done that when we arrived,” Lindsey stated for the first time. “We can get jobs until Mel hunts for a firm to work for.”

“Well, just to let you know it’s going to be a rough two years before that happens. Mel will have to take the bar exam after two years of going back to school. As for you Lindz. You will have to get working visa’s before you can get work. That’s going to take at least six months to go through. Can you both live on the money you have saved for that time period? As that happens, you will not have any health coverage. What’s going to happen if the kids get hurt?”

“I guess we hadn’t thought of all that,” Mel replied. “We’re still going because of what happened.”

“That’s another thing,” Brian continued. “Where ever you go, there’s going to be hatred about homosexuals. That hate is everywhere, not just here. If you still plan on going forth on your plans, I’m going forward with my own.”

Lindsey was thinking and then her eyes came upon Justin. She knew something was wrong.

“Why aren’t you in New York?” Lindsey asked.

“It’s not my opportunity of a lifetime. Brian is. Besides, would you leave Mel if you had the opportunity to go to New York with your art?” Justin repeated what he said to Lindsey a while back.

“No, but I…” Lindsey knew what she had said to them was wrong.

“Then stay out of my life,” Justin snarled. “Right now I have enough troubles.”

“With what?” Lindsey asked.

“Nothing that you need to know,” Justin grumbled.

Brian knew that Justin’s life was only beginning at Kinnetik. He came up to Justin and stood behind him with his arms wrapped around him. Brian kissed his neck to calm him down.

“This meeting is over,” Brian stated. “If you want to talk to me, go through my lawyer. Right now, I have to get ready for a meeting. Ted, would you see them out?” He still had his arms wrapped around Justin.

“Will do, boss,” Ted replied as he led the two women out.

When they entered the outer office, Mel turned to Ted.

“What’s going on with those two?”

“Nothing I can talk about,” Ted replied. Ted knew that if he repeated anything that went on in the office, Brian would have him by the balls. He knew that Brian would make his life hell and he didn’t want to do that after what Brian did for him: by giving him a job.

“What are we going to do?” Mel asked. “We sold the house and everything is packed.”

“Why don’t you stay at my place and I’ll stay with Emmett,” Ted replied. “It’s the least I could do for the both of you.”

‘Thanks, Ted,” Mel replied as she gave him a hug.

Ted handed over his key. “I know it’s a one bedroom but it’s better than living in a motel room.”

Mel gave him a kiss and the two women left.

Ted walked back into the Brian’s office.

“Boss, I let them stay at my apartment for the time being until this settles. I’ll bunk in with Emmett until then.”

“Ted, that was good of you but how about the suite we have at the Hilton? We keep it for clients and it’s vacant right now. If we need it, we’ll think of something else. Just keep all the receipts. My CFO told me this once.” Brian had a smile on his face.

“I’ll get right on that,” Ted smirked. “And thanks, boss.” With that, Ted left and went to his apartment to get his clothes.

“Now for you,” Brian turned to Justin. “I have a plan to relieve you of our stress. Are you up for it?” Brian’s hands came down over Justin’s cock.

“Oh yeah,” Justin whimpered as his cock began to fill.

They went into Brian’s bathroom and Brian relieve Justin of his tension. After each blew the other, they cleaned up and headed out to Brian’s office. He buzzed Cynthia.

“Cyn, can you get Suzanne and Hadley from the Art Department in here?”

“Right on it,” Cyn replied.

A few minutes later, Suzanne and Hadley came into the office.

“Have a seat,” Brian said. “Justin told me what’s going on in the art department and we came up with a plan. Suzanne, you and Justin will be doing the Remson campaign alone. I want no other on it but you two. Does this meet your approval?”

“Mr. Kinney, I would love that,” Suzanne replied excitedly. “We worked together before and I think we do great work together.”

“It’s Brian by the way,” Brian said. “We have a video teleconference with Remson in half an hour and I want you to go over the file before then. We are going to be setting up a new campaign for a new drug that will benefit HIV/AIDS people. It is going to reduce their viral load by a great degree. We need to get on this as fast as possible so that these people can lead better lives. Now let’s get to work.”

Brian handed over two copies of the Remson file and Justin went to the table opposite Brian’s desk.

They began to look through the file and made notes.

“Hadley, I have a job for you to do,” Brian stated.

Brian made some notes for Hadley and they brainstormed on what to use for a company. They came up with a perfume that was new on the market. The company was new so there was not much information on the web about it so Hadley told Brian about his idea. The two came up with a campaign that would even fool Brian.

Cynthia knocked on the door and watched the great minds working together. She smiled as she watched Brian and Hadley. Brian never worked well with others on campaigns but this was surreal.

“Brian, Remson is on in the conference room.”

“Thanks. Hadley, I think this is going to work. Take that computer in the corner and start on your project. I would like updates on what you have done.”

“Right on it, Brian.” Hadley was excited on doing this, as it was something he would be doing with the boss of the company.

“You two, come with me,” Brian stated as he picked up his file and went into the conference room through his office.

Brian sat at the head of the table with Justin to his left and Suzanne to his right. They each had a file on Remson. Brian pressed a button and Lawrence Remson came online.

“Brian, good to see you.”

“You as well, Larry. This is Justin Taylor to my left and Suzanne Monson to my right. They will solely be involved on this campaign. So what can we do for you?”

Larry told them about the new drug and the effects it entailed to HIV/AIDS patients. It was a big breakthrough in the medical industry and Larry wanted it out as soon as possible. He needed Kinnetik to put this forward.

“So do you need anything else?” Larry asked.

“Since this is a new drug, we would need at least five million to start for the first three years. Does that suit you?”

“How about ten for five years? If what you do with this drug is as good as you have with the others then this drug will help many people. Does that suit you?”

“I’ll get legal on this right away. This will be excellent. It will give us what we need to do. Do you want to just go with magazines and billboards or do you want to do the whole nine yards with television as well?” Brian made notes will talking.

“We’ll start out with magazines and billboards for now. If all goes well then we’ll do the rest. When can we have the first boards?”

Brian looked to Justin.

“We could have the boards ready in two weeks. Does that suit you Mr. Remson?”

“Yes Justin that would be fine. And call me Larry. If you have any problems, give me a call. Are these the only people who will be working on the campaign, Brian?”

“Yes. Between these two, they are my brain team.” Brian smiled at each of them.

“Well if you don’t have any questions then I will let you get started. I have already emailed you the information on the new drug. I will send the money by courier.”

“Thanks, Larry. We will have boards ready for you in two weeks. I’ll email the new contract to you. We will talk again.”

“Alright, Brian. We’ll talk later.”

“Bye Larry. Have a great day.”

“You all as well.”

When the video stopped, Brian turned to his team.

“Well, we have our work cut out for us. How do you want to do this Justin?”

“Well, how about we get set up in an office with two desks and get to work. We need to work on our own with no interruptions.” Justin looked to Suzanne for confirmation.

“Justin’s right,” Suzanne stated. “If we went back to the Art Department then Joey will want to know what we are up to. I couldn’t face him if he began to argue.”

“I have just the office for you two to use,” Brian rose from his chair.

Brian led them to an office on the other side of the conference room. Inside were two desks that faced each other with computers on them. There were skylights in the ceiling and bookcases that took up two sides of the room. Under one of the skylights, was a drafting table set up to create boards.

“This is excellent, Brian,” Justin replied and kissed Brian. When he did that, he knew it was inappropriate. “Sorry.”

“Suzanne, if you didn’t know, Justin and I are partners in life as well as in this company. That is need to know. I want to treat Justin as an employee until we figured out this mess. Do you know what’s going on?” Brian took Justin’s hand in his.

“I thought that’s who Justin was,” Suzanne stated. “I didn’t want to say anything to anyone because it’s none of my business. But if you want to kiss Justin while in here, don’t let me stop you. As long as I can watch.” Suzanne smiled a devilish smile.

“What is it with your friends, Justin?” Brian asked. “First Daphne now Suzanne! And yes, you can watch. Might be the only time I get to kiss him here.”

“Brian!” Justin stated with a slap to Brian’s arm. “What can I say when you are so cute!”

“Yes, he is that,” Suzanne replied. “And Brian, it’s Suzy.”

“Okay and I’m not cute,” Brian replied. “Maybe handsome.”

“Well, we have work to do,” Justin stated. “Do you want to tell Joey about this?”

“I will tell him that you two are working on Remsen for me. He not getting control over this campaign. The two of you get to work. I want to see something by the weekend. That gives you both four days. Will that work?”

Justin looked to Suzy and she nodded. “Will do, boss.”

“Cut the boss.” Brian then left them alone and went to Joey.

Brian saw Joey in his office and entered.

“Joey, I will be taking Justin and Suzy off your hands for a while. Can you do without them?

“I can do without them. Can I ask why you need them?” Joey wasn’t to keen on this.

“They are working on the Remsen campaign that I need them for. They will have total control over this one. It’s one we can’t afford to lose and I want my best people on it.”

“How do you know Justin is one of the best?” Joey asked. “He just started to work here.”

“I worked with him at Ryder in his first year and he had excellent ideas. Suzy and him worked together before and I know they could do excellent work again.”

“What year is Justin working on at PIFA?” Joey asked. Something wasn’t right with this conversation.

“He’s on his final year,” Brian replied. He watched Joey’s face for anything and knew that something was up.

“All right, Brian,” Joey said. “Will they be working here?”

“Yes in the building but not in this department. I have offices set up for this one. I don’t want them interrupted at all with their brainstorming. Is that all?”

“Yes, thanks for letting me know,” Joey replied. He was not a happy camper. Something was just not right, he thought.

“If you need anything else, let me know,” Brian said.

“I will.”

Brian then went to his office and walked up to Hadley. “How’s it coming along?” Brian leaned over Hadley’s shoulder. “Hadley, can you do something for me?”

“Sure, boss, what do you need?”

“What is it with this ‘boss’ name?”

“Ted calls you that so everyone else does when talking about you.”

“Well, can you hack into the PIFA computers?”

Hadley’s eyes almost bugged out of his head. “Boss?”

“I know. I need Justin put on the school program for his final year. I have a feeling that Joey will be looking into Justin’s file from PIFA. I don’t need him knowing that Justin holds fifty percent of this company and is my life partner. We need a rouse.”

“I’ll get right on that. The school won’t know that it came from this office.”

“Good. Now get to work.” Brian went to his desk and pulled up the email from Remson on his computer. After he read the file, he then emailed it to Justin and Suzy.

A few hours later, Justin walked into Brian’s office.

“Brian, are Suzy and I given total control on how to do this campaign without interruptions unless we come to you?”

“Yes. What did you have in mind?”

“Something is bugging me,” Justin stated. “I don’t know what it is but…” Justin started pacing the office. “I hope I’m not overstepping on anyone’s toes but I think that when Suzy and I put this campaign together, we are going to make duplicates of them and put the originals in your office, if that’s okay with you?”

“I know what you mean,” Brian replied. “It’s okay with me. I have a safe in the wall behind the sofa that’s big enough for any boards. When we leave at night, come to me with the originals and we’ll put them inside. Leave the duplicates where everyone can see them. Also make sure your office is locked at night.”

“Thanks,” Justin responded. “How’s Hadley working out?”

“He’s great. Knows many things about computers. He’s setting up a dummy company for Joey. I have worked out a campaign for him alone. I will tell him as a favor that I need the boards for these in one week. Hadley is also getting you set up at PIFA as a fourth year student. Don’t worry, he told me that there would be no way for them to find out it came from this office. I will also get him to set up cameras in designated areas to see if Joey does come into your office. You, Suzy and I have the only keys to your office.”

“I’m glad you can play well with others,” Justin snickered.

“When it comes to keeping people, I’m all for keeping the best. Besides, I married you, didn’t I?”

“That you did.” Justin made his way to stand between Brian’s legs with his ass against the desk. “Are we done for the day?”

“Let me go tell Hadley what is going on and you go tell Suzy to go home. Bring me what you have started on and we’ll put them in the safe.” Brian patted Justin’s leg and Brian got up.

By the end of the week, Justin and Suzy had mock boards ready for Brian by three o’clock. Brian looked at each one that was set up on stands in the conference room. There were eight of them.

As Brian looked at each of them, thoughts were running through his mind as to what could make them better. But what he saw would not change his mind. They were good. He then took a chair and glanced at them again.

“Perfect!” Brian stated. “Justin, Suzy, this is something I would never have thought of. What you both came up with is excellent. I wouldn’t change anything. These are great. How about you lock these up and take the rest of the day off?”

Suzy let out a sigh of relief. She was scared that Brian wouldn’t like their ideas but his approval was well worth it.

Justin turned to look at Brian. “I knew you would approve. Remember, I’m onto you.” He then turned to Suzy. “We need to celebrate. This has been a mind boggling week.”

“I agree,” Suzy replied as she let out a breath. “Would you like to come with us, Brian?”

“Well, I need to check up on Hadley and then a file then I will join you. Why don’t we meet at the diner?”

“I could go for a cheeseburger about now,” Justin stated.

“Then I will meet both of you there,” Brian said. “Lock these up in the safe and make sure to leave the duplicates on the drafting table. Until this campaign is done, I don’t want any slip ups.”

“On it boss,” Justin replied. With Suzy’s help, they put all eight boards in the safe. This was one project that he didn’t want destroyed.

After doing that, Suzy left and Justin turned to Brian.

“We may have a problem,” Justin stated. “Suzy knows about this.”

“What’s up?”

“After I left last night, I put a toothpick in the door at the bottom and this morning it was on the floor. I know Suzy wasn’t in the office. I asked her after she arrived if she was here last night after we left. She said no. That means someone else was in the office but nothing looked disturbed. What do you want to do?”

“Let’s go find Hadley,” Brian said. “I set him up in an office of his own so no one can disturb him. He’s become my new IT/Security guy.”

They entered Hadley’s office. “Hadley, we have a problem. Justin just told me someone was in his office after both him and Suzy left last night. Can you bring up the video feed to their office?”

“Sure, boss,” Hadley replied.

His fingers got to work and there before them was both the office and outside the door. He quickly made his way through the feed until something showed up. Hadley slowed it down and there before them was Joey, kneeling on the carpet with what looked like lock picks in his hands. They all watched as he opened the door and went inside. He looked around the office and came upon what he thought were the mock boards on the drafting table. They couldn’t make out what he was doing because he had his back to the door. After twenty minutes, he left the office, locking it back up behind him.

“Did you notice any changes from the dummy boards to the ones in the safe?” Brian asked.

“No I didn’t,” Justin replied. “Let’s go take a look.”

“Thanks, Hadley,” Brian said. “Can you make me a copy?”

“Sure thing, boss,” Hadley replied.

Brian and Justin went into Brian’s office and got the boards out of the safe. They went into Justin’s office and placed them beside the duplicates. Suzy was still there.

“I knew you were going to do this so I stayed,” Suzy said.

All three looked carefully through the boards. Brian noticed slight changes to fonts used. He then came across one board that was totally destroyed with a black marker.

“Well, he’s through after seeing this,” Brian stated. “Come Monday, he will be out of a job. Would you be willing to take over as Head of the Art Department after you finish this campaign?”

“I will,” Justin replied. “On one condition?”

“What’s that?” Brian asked.

“That I make Suzy my partner. I want her to be there at all times when I’m there. When I’m not there, she will head up the department.”

“But Justin, I have no experience running a department,” Suzy exclaimed.

“And you think I do?” Justin questioned. “I never finished PIFA. I am a year and half short of graduating. Brian took me on knowing that with my artistic mind I could do the job. I have watched you since we’ve been working on Remsen and I’m blown away with your ideas. I could have never come up with some of those. Besides, if you have a problem, you can come to Brian or me. You will not be left alone.”

“Alright, since you put it that way. I would be honored Justin to have your faith and trust. I will not let you down.”

“Now that’s squared away, let’s lock the boards back up and you two go to the diner. I will go to Hadley and get a copy of that video for my meeting on Monday. Joey will not know what hit him. I will place it in the safe.”

After Brian went to Hadley’s office to get the video, he put the video in the safe and sat at his desk. He then called Cynthia and Ted.

When the two arrive, Cynthia handed him a coffee. “What’s up?”

“Joey is being fired come Monday,” Brian stated. “We have proof that he went into Justin’s and Suzy’s office and destroyed one of the boards for Remsen. Don’t worry, it was a fake. Justin will head up the Art Department come Monday with Suzy as his partner. They will run the department together. I guess the saying, ‘two heads are better than one’ makes sense. Ted, I would like you to draw up a contract for them. Give Suzy a 10 percent increase and Justin 20 percent. The reason I’m giving more to Justin is that he is also my Chief of Operations. If I am not here, he will make decisions for me. One week ago, we became partners in business as well as in life.” He held up his hand with the ring on his finger.

“This is great news, boss,” Ted said. “I will get on the contracts today. Anything else?”

“No, that about covers it,” Brian replied. Just as the door closed after Ted left, his phone rang. He picked it up.

“Phil, good to hear from you. So what’s the verdict?”

“We have a court date set up Monday after next,” Phil said. “Does that suit you?”

“Perfect. I have a campaign date for next Friday so this is perfect. Anything you need?”

“No, James is doing a kick ass job on your case. You could have custody of Gus before the end of two weeks. We have enough on them that charges will be filed against Lindsey Peterson with INS. They don’t take to kindly to people who do things like that.”

“That’s good to hear. I will see you Monday after next.”

“Court is to convene at 10 o’clock. I’ll see you then.”

“See you then.” Brian hung up the phone and looked at Cynthia.

“By the look on your face, that was great news.”

“I could have my son living with me in two weeks. I need to clear my calendar for Monday after Remsen. I’ll need to get a bigger place. I need to talk to Justin.”

“You go,” Cyn stated. “I have everything covered here.”

“Thanks, see you Monday,” Brian said. He gathered up his briefcase and jacket and left for the diner.

Upon arriving, he noticed Justin and Suzy sitting in a booth near the back. None of the family was there. This was the first time since they cancelled the wedding that he step foot inside. He was so busy trying to get Kinnetik off the ground, that he didn’t have time to join his friends. He sat beside Justin and kissed his cheek.

“Brian, long time no see,” Deb said. “Why are you not in New York, Justin?”

“As I told Lindsey, New York is not my opportunity of a lifetime, Brian is.”

“Good for you.” She patted him on the cheek. “It’s nice to see people stand up for themselves. And who is this lovely girl?”

“Deb, meet Suzy Monson,” Brian said. “She works for us at Kinnetik. Her and Justin will be heading up the Art Department together. Suzy, this is Deb Novotny. She’s a second mother to all that is gay.”

“But I’m not gay,” Suzy stated.

“No matter. If you need help, I’ll be here. Now, this calls for celebration,” Deb replied. “Two chocolate milkshakes coming right up with one coffee.”

“How does she know I like chocolate?” Suzy asked.

“It’s a given fact that most women love chocolate. You look like the kind of person that does.”

“I do.” Suzy watched as a chocolate milkshake was place in front of her. She took a sip. “WOW! This is wonderful.”

“Told you,” Justin exclaimed.

“Justin, Suzy, when we go back to work on Monday, Ted will have new contracts ready for you both to sign. Justin, I made you my COO when I’m not in town.”

“That sounds good, Brian,” Justin replied.

“Thanks, Brian,” Suzy said. “I won’t let you down.”

The three ate their meal and Suzy headed home.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The weekend was quiet for both men. Brian had a lot to think about with the court date coming up next week. 

Justin was thinking about the campaign and taking over the Art Department. Justin knew that it was a big responsibility to take over this department knowing he didn’t have a degree in anything. But with his experience at being as artist and working at Ryder then Vanguard, he knew what would look great in an ad. Justin jotted down ideas as they came up and went online to look at other things.

Monday morning, Justin and Brian walked into Brian’s office and was met with Cynthia. She handed over a cup of coffee to Brian and a juice to Justin.

“Ted, office,” Brian said over the intercom.

“Coming,” Ted replied as he grabbed his coffee. He entered Brian’s office and sat on the sofa. Somehow he knew what was coming.

“Cynthia, call Joey in twenty minutes,” Brian stated. He walked over to the safe and pulled out the DVD they had on Joey breaking into Justin and Suzy’s office.

“Are you ready, Justin?” Brian asked.

“As ready as I will ever be,” Justin replied.

“Ted, have Justin sign those contracts so that when I fire Joey, Justin will step right in.”

Ted got out the contracts and him and Justin signed them.

After Justin was finished, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in,” Brian replied. He watched as Joey came into the room. “Have a seat.”

Joey took a seat in front of Brian’s desk. When he saw Justin and Ted sitting on the sofa, he knew he was going to be fired.

“Something came to my attention on Friday that doesn’t sit well with me,” Brian stated. “I, then, went to our IT guy and he gave me this.” Brian produced a DVD. He then put it into his computer and turned the screen around so that Joey could see it.

Justin watched from the sidelines what was being played on the screen. He watched as Joey’s jaw muscles moved on his face. Justin knew that Joey was mad for being found out.

Brian watched as Joey’s eyes got big from being found out.

“I can explain this.” Joey looked scared. “Justin and Suzy were keeping secrets and I wanted to know what was going on.”

“When I told you that I was going to use them for the Remson Pharmaceuticals campaign, they were to be off limits with any other project. You were not to be included in their work.”

“But that campaign should have been in the Art Department. Why was Justin and Suzy given special treatment for this project?”

“Because I wanted my best team on them. Just for your information, Justin, Cynthia and I worked on this project when I opened Kinnetik. This was the company that made Kinnetik what it is now. When I placed Justin on this campaign, he knew what I was looking for because he knows me. We’re married for fucks sake! Damn! Anyways, this gives me grounds for firing your sorry ass! Now, clean out your desk and hand over your keys and passwords. You will not be getting a recommendation from me. I’ve had nothing but trouble with the Art Department since I hired you. Justin was the one who found out what was going on there. Ted will cut you a cheque.”

Ted rose and handed over the cheque. He then left the three men alone.

“This is all your fault!” Joey yelled at Justin as he stood from his chair. “If you hadn’t been hired by Brian, I would still have a job!”

“No, this is your fault,” Justin yelled back. “If you had done just as Brian told you to do on the campaigns, you would still have a job. I would have never told him about the little mistakes I noticed when I was in the Art Department. Did you forget that I am going to PIFA to get a degree? I have the trained eye of an artist and I see mistakes with them. So don’t put the blame on me. Now get out of our office!”

He pushed the button on the intercom

“Cynthia, I want security here to escort Joey out of the building after he gets his stuff,” Justin said,

“You can’t tell me what to do!” Joey fired back. “You don’t have the authority.”

“Yes he does,” Brian stated. “I made him my business partner and Chief of Operations. When I’m not here, he takes over. Since I am here, I agree with him. Besides, he was signing his new contract to be the Head of the Art Department.”

Joey knew that he was outnumbered. He shoved the chair but Justin stopped it from doing any damage. Joey took the key to Kinnetik off his ring and slammed it on Brian’s desk. He then grabbed a pen and paper and wrote down his password to his computer. Then he walked out of the office and escorted to his own. When he came to his office, he watched as the security guard stood guard at his door. He knew it was all over.

Back in Brian’s office, Brian had his arms around Justin. He knew Justin didn’t get made often but when he did, he would shake. His arms were his way of calming him down.

“Why don’t we go home?” Brian asked.

“No, I have work to do,” Justin replied.

“No, you can’t work in this state. You will make mistakes and get frustrated then have to start all over again. You can’t work like this. How about we go home and get smashed. I might have some weed that’s not too strong for you to calm down.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Let me go talk to Suzy and then we’ll go. You go talk to Cynthia and let her know where we are. Besides, we have that court date next Monday.”

“Meet you out front,” Brian said as they walked out of the office.

Justin got smashed and high as Brian watched him. He knew that he would have to keep an eye on Justin so he drank very little.

For the rest of the week, Justin worked with Suzy on the campaign and that Friday, they presented to campaign to Larry. He was thrilled with the campaign and told Brian to go all out with the campaign. Larry knew that with Brian doing this, he would make more money for his company than Vanguard would ever do.

************

They arrived at the courthouse on Monday. Brian knew this was going to be a disaster but he somehow knew with Justin beside him, everything would work out.

After Brian sat down, the judge came in and everyone rose. The layers did their talk and then James rose from his chair.

“I call Mr. Brian Kinney to the stand.”

Brian was sworn in and sat at the seat next to the judge.

“Now, Mr. Kinney, what do you do for a living?”

“I own Kinnetik Advertising along with my partner, Justin Taylor.”

“I understand that you are wanting sole custody of your son, Gus Marcus-Peterson, is that correct?”

“Yes. I want my son to live with me and Justin. I have been doing a lot of thinking lately about what is best for my son. When I found out that Lindsey and Mel were moving to Canada, I looked into what would happen when they got there.”

“And what did you find out?”

“I found out that with them moving there, they would have to wait six months before obtaining work because they would need working visas. I also found out that Mel would have to wait two years before she would have to write the bar exam before she found work at a law firm. During that time they would have no insurance to cover costs of health benefits. With Lindsey’s teaching degree, it wouldn’t be valid so she would have to find means of supporting her family.”

“Anything else?” asked James.

“I also found out that they were running away because of what happened at Babylon. We all found out that homophobic people set the bomb that blew up the club. They don’t realize that they will find that this happens all over no matter where you live.”

“Tell us, Mr. Kinney, where do you plan on living if you do get custody of your son?”

“When I asked Justin to marry me, I took him to a house in West Virginia. He didn’t know it at the time but I bought it for him. When I proposed, he said yes. As I thought of Gus and where he was going to stay if I got custody, I thought of the house. It has a great backyard, swimming pool, tennis courts and all the room to run around.”

“So, you plan to give up on your lifestyle of sexual intercourse with men?”

“I gave up on that a long time ago. After I opened Kinnetik, I didn’t have the time to go out to the bars. I worked eighty hour weeks just to get the company off the ground. It was Justin who stated before I started Kinnetik that I had landed a big account with Vanguard Advertising. I took like a duck to water and put together a kick ass campaign. The company went with me and I opened Kinnetik. It wasn’t long after that I developed testicular cancer. With the treatments and working, I gave up sex for months. After Justin and I got back together, we decided to get married but those plans fell through when all our friends found out that Justin was moving to New York City. He didn’t want to move, so we became partners in life as well as business.”

“So you haven’t had a partner other than Justin Taylor in over a year, is that right?”

“Yes. I found out that I don’t need anyone other than him in my life. We, in fact, wear rings to prove our love to one another.”

“Have you ever done drugs during this time?”

“Before I got sick, it did a lot of things: E. poppers, Special K. But since the cancer scare, I haven’t had anything stronger than pot. I read online somewhere that heavy drugs screw up treatment but doctors say that pot helps with the pain of chemo treatments.”

“Have you ever done drugs in front of Gus?”

“No, never. When I knew he was coming over, I would hide the drugs in a locked box out of his eyesight. With the way I work now, I never do it unless it is the weekend or I’ve had a rough day. I would never do drugs in front of him.”

“What was it like being called ‘The King of Liberty Avenue’?”

“It was great. I could have anyone I wanted, there were no limits to where I could get drugs and I had respect of many people in the bars.”

“Have you ever missed being that person?”

“To be honest, no. After meeting Justin Taylor on a street corner, he changed my life. Since we have been together, I don’t miss the sex so much. He is all I ever need in a partner.”

“How long have you known Justin Taylor?”

“I met him the night my son was born, so off and on for five years.”

“Can you elaborate on the ‘off and on’ part?”

“Yes. There were times during our relationship, that Justin and I wouldn’t be together. After he was kicked out his house by this father, he moved in with me. Then I kicked him out when my placed was robbed. He lived with my surrogate mother, Debbie Novotny. At that time, we spent more time together than we ever did. He lived with a musician then came back to me.”

“What prompted Justin to live with Miss. Novotny?”

“Objection, you honor. This has nothing to do with the custody case,” Mr. Standing argued.

“Goes to the character of the witness,” James replied.

“Overruled.”

“He had no other place to go. My place was too small and Deb took him in. She then gave him a job working at the diner.”

“Can you tell me what happened at prom?”

“One week before Justin was to graduate, he asked me to be his date for prom. I told him no, it was not the place for me to be seen. During that week, I was going through a crisis: I was getting old. I was turning thirty and what did I have in my life to live for? I then thought: I have a son. I didn’t at the time want to raise him but he was still my son. So I thought of having some fun. I showered, got dressed in my tux and went to Justin’s prom. I remember having the best night of my life as we danced. After we left, we were horsing around in the garage at the hotel and then I got in my jeep. As I closed the door and looked into the side mirror, I saw this kid with a baseball bat come out of no where and as I raced towards Justin and called his name, I heard the sickening thud of the bat as it hit him in the head.” Brian lowered his head, trying to not show his feelings on that night.

“What happened after that?”

“I reached over for the bat and swung it, hitting the guy in the knees. I then raced over to Justin and that’s when I knew. I was in love with him. I called for an ambulance and we made our way to the hospital. I called my best friend, Michael Novotny. I don’t remember him showing up.”

“Did you spend any time with Justin Taylor after that?”

“Yes I did.” Brian looked right at Justin. “I spent every night with him when he was in his coma. I would watch him as he had nightmares but I was to chicken to go inside. His mother knew I was there but didn’t say anything.”

“Did you at one point care for Justin?”

“Yes. After he got out of the hospital, he developed PTSD. He wouldn’t let anyone touch him but me. I don’t know why. I helped with his PTSD as best as I could. He had to learn how to touch all over again, was afraid to go out into crowds, and had to learn how to control his hand. I even bought him a computer to help with his studies at PIFA. After that, he moved out because of a lack of communication. He found someone who could give him the things I couldn’t.”

“Were you still involved in his life?”

“Yes, I made sure he was doing okay. I was still paying for his education. We got it set up as a loan so he could pay me back. He still owes me that by the way.” Brian smirked as he looked at Justin.

“What happened next?”

“He moved back in after they broke up. When I developed cancer, I kicked him out. I couldn’t go through with him being there to pity me. I didn’t want anyone near me. When he found out, he made me chicken soup and gradually moved back in but he didn’t feel comfortable there. That’s when I thought that we needed a place of our own. I looked for something that would suit the both of us and came across this house. We went out there and on that day, I proposed to Justin. I told him this was our place but I knew it was more his place. He accepted my proposal and we planned a wedding together.”

“What happened about six weeks ago?”

“Lindsey show me an article in Art Forum on Justin’s show that he held at Sidney Bloom Gallery. I brought it up to Justin about what Lindsey told me. She said for him to be noticed in the art world, that he would have to move to New York City to become an artist. Justin and I discussed this before our wedding date and decided that he should move to New York. Two days before Justin was to start packing, he told me that he didn’t want to move. He wanted to help me with my company, Kinnetik. He said he could do his art anytime.”

“So Justin is here to stay then?”

“Yes, I made him partner in the company and also one of two people to head the Art Department in the company. We also got married on paper so that no one can take the company from either one of us.”

“What happened when you found out that Miss Peterson was marrying a man?”

“Mel came over to my place and told me she couldn’t get a hold of Lindsey. I said it wasn’t my problem. She then told me that the answering machine was changed and that some man’s voice was on it. We went over to the house and found out that Lindsey needed someone to look after Gus while she was working. Lindsey told me they were getting married because Gui DuPreé was needing a Green Card to stay in the United States. When I was at a store getting some grapes for lunch, I spotted my son with that same man. This man, Gui, said that I couldn’t come around to the house anymore. He was marrying Lindsey and wanted to adopt my son. This made me furious. I decided to form a plan. I decided to sign my parental rights over to Mel if the two girls got back together. They agreed. It wasn’t until I came to you to keep my son here in the States that they were never put through the courts.”

As Brian talked about the Green Card situation, Judge O’Connell wrote something down. He was going to look into this at INS, calling his son.

“How much money have you given Gus’ mothers over the years?”

“I would have to say around a couple thousand a month. Whenever Lindsey needed something for Gus, she would come over and ask for it. I told her after the baby was born that if she ever needed anything to let me know.”

“Have you kept a tally on how much money you have given them?”

“Yes. I have given them about one hundred thousand dollars since my son was born.” There were murmurs in the court.

“After Gus was born, did they want you to sign over your rights?”

“Yes. They also made me sign a life insurance policy for a million dollars in case something happened to me.”

“Did you sign over your rights?”

“No, the day I went over, they had Gus in a carrier on the table. When I saw him, I just couldn’t do it. It was at that time I fell in love with Gus. I knew I would never have the chance to have another child.”

“And why is that?”

“I got cancer a few years later and doctors told me that I would have a slim chance of fathering a child with one testicle. Before I had surgery, I decided to save some of my sperm just in case I wanted another child.”

“Whose name is listed as father on the birth certificate?”

“Mine.”

“No more questions, your Honor,” Phil stated.

“Your witness, Mr. Standing.”

“Thank you your Honor,” Matt said. “Now Mr. Kinney, have you ever hit your son?”

“No, I would never hit Gus or any child.”

“But you have hit your friends.”

“Yes, I hit my friend, Michael Novotny.”

“Why did you hit him?”

“He said something to me that I didn’t like,” Brian replied and looked right at Justin.

“What did he say to provoke you into hitting him?”

“We were at a party for Mel and Lindsey. I was talking to Michael when he said…he said that I should have left Justin on the floor of the garage to bleed to death. That was when I hit Michael and was told to leave.”

There were gasps coming from the courtroom.

“I understand you were in a sexual harassment suit with a co-worker?”

“Yes, Kip Thomas filed a sexual harassment suit against me. We had sex twice in my office and when that happened he wanted something in return. He wanted a promotion that was up at the office and I knew he wasn’t ready for it. Kip had been there only three months. When I turned him down, he tried to sue me. A few weeks later, I found out he dropped the charges. It wasn’t until much later that I found out what Justin Taylor did.”

“What did he do?”

“He came onto Kip and when Kip asked how old he was, Justin said he was seventeen. Kip didn’t know that the legal age to have sex was sixteen. Justin told Kip that his father would kill him if he found out they were having sex. But Justin was wise beyond his years. He told Kip that he wouldn’t tell his father if he would do something for him. It was then that the suit was dropped. Justin never knew I found out.” Brian looked right at Justin as he was talking. He watched as Justin smiled at him.

This line of questioning was not making Brian look to be the bad guy so Matt tried something else. He was getting furious because Mel and Lindsey hadn’t told him the whole story. He needed a different tactic.

“Mr. Kinney, what happened when Police Chief Stockwell closed the backrooms on Liberty Avenue?”

“I took a sledge hammer the first time and opened them up. Later on the locks were replaced. I didn’t want to do that again so I opened up my loft to become some sort of backroom.”

“So if you have men over all the time, who’s to say that your son won’t come into contact with them?”

“I have never had that happen.”

“So you’re trying to tell me that the day Lindsey turned up with your son at the loft, you didn’t have a man there with you?”

“Yes I did have a man there but I never let the man near my son. I, in fact, blocked him from getting to my son. Besides, Lindsey should have rung the buzzer to let me know she was there with my son. She just barged right in without knocking.”

“Now Mr. Kinney, can you tell me about your father and mother?” Matt asked.

“Well, my father was abusive and my mother was an alcoholic. I was used as a punching bag when my father got drunk. My mother never stopped it.”

“I understand you did hit your father at one time, didn’t you?”

“Yes, the day I left for university. My father told me I didn’t deserve that scholarship and I punched him in the nose and broke it. I walked out of the house and never looked back.”

“So, you’re trying to tell me that you would never hit your son?”

“No, I would never hit my son. Children don’t know what’s right or wrong. That’s why we, as parents, should teach our children what is right and what is wrong. As adults, we should know that by now.”

“Did you know that studies have proved that children who were abused become abusers to their children?”

“Yes, but I’m not my father.”

“No further questions, your Honor,” Matt replied. He knew that his case with Brian Kinney was going down the tubes.

“Redirect, your Honor?” Jim asked.

“Go ahead.”

“Brian is what you are saying true that your so called ‘family’ come over all the time when you’re at the loft?”

“Yes, they come over all the time without knocking. I have two people who have keys to the apartment, Lindsey Petersen and Michael Novotny. When they can’t reach me, they use their keys. Sometimes I’m with a man or I’m with Justin. They were to use those keys if there was an emergency. Michael does it because he wants to be my sexual partner. Lindsey does it to shove Gus at me with no notice. She’s also in love with me because we had sex once. She didn’t know if she was a lesbian or not so we slept together. We made better friends. But she still wants that picket fence with me because she still loves me.”

“Mr. Kinney, what kind of books do you have around the loft?” Jim was going to throw Brian for a loop.

“I have many advertising books, managerial books and a few adult books.”

“Do you have parenting books?”

“Yes I do.”

“Can you tell me who got those?”

“Justin did. When we started to have Gus over to our place, he wanted to be the best parent he could be for my son. So he purchased a few parenting books.”

“Have you read any of them?”

“Yes, I have read all fourteen of them.” Brian was wondering where Jim was going with this.

“After reading them, do you think you are a better parent now?”

“I would like to think so. While reading these books, I found out that there is more to parenting than reading books. These books are filled with so much information that I wish they were around when I grew up. But the times I spent with my son, you can’t get out of a book.”

“No further questions,” Jim replied and went to sit behind the desk.

“You are excused, Mr. Kinney,” the judge replied.

Brian got down and made his way to sit beside Jim. “I like the way you handled yourself,” Brian whispered. He then felt a hand on his shoulder and turned. The look he saw in Justin’s eyes were full of love.

“Have you any further witnesses, Mr. Burnett?” the judge asked.

“Yes, you honor. I would like to call Marianne McDonald to the stand?”

Mel looked to Brian as she was fit to be tied. ‘How had he found out about this?’ she thought.

Marianne was sworn in.

“Miss McDonald, how do you know the plaintiffs?” Jim asked.

“Well, I was at a baby shower that was held for one of our friends.”

“Did you have an affair with Melanie Marcus?”

“Yes, we went outside during the shower to have a smoke. It looked like Mel was getting bored at the shower. One thing led to another and we slept together.”

“Did anything come out after that?” asked Jim.

“No, we never saw one another again.”

“Was it not a matter of fact that this is what broke the two of them up?”

“Objection!” Matt exclaimed.

“Showing the character of the mother,” Jim replied.

“Overruled.”

“Yes, Lindsey came to me after she found out I slept with her partner. She then told me that they were no longer together.”

“Thank you. No further questions.” Jim sat the table again.

“No questions, your honor,” Matt replied. Mel never told him about the affair so he couldn’t ask her any questions.

“Any more witnesses, Mr. Burnett?” Judge O’Connell asked.

“I would like to call Miss Debra Novotny to the stand.” Jim gathered a few papers up and read over them before starting his questions while Debbie was sworn in.

“Now, Miss Navotny, how long have you known Mr. Kinney?”

“I have known him since he was fourteen. My son, Michael and him became friends at that time.”

“When was the first time you met Brian?”

“The first time I met Brian was when I heard a noise in the house. I went to inspect my son and I found Brian sitting on Michael’s bed holding his arm. When I looked Brian in the face, it was bruised on one side and his arm was broken. I cleaned him up as best I could and took him to the hospital. Brian and I were sitting on the couch while Michael was sleeping. Brian told me that his father did this to him. I told him that he if ever needed anything to come to me. I treated him like a son.”

“Did Brian come to you with his injuries?”

“Yes. Brian told me his father only did this when he was drunk. I would phone the school to let them know Brian was sick. He would stay with me until he almost healed and would go back home. During the summer, he stayed with me and helped around the house or the diner where I worked.”

“Have you ever seen him with his son, Gus?”

“Yes I have. One time the girls went skiing for the weekend and I invited the boys over for supper on a Saturday. We had a storm that weekend and I told the boys to stay. The streets were covered in a foot of snow. All three slept in my son’s room. When I checked them the next morning, Gus was between Brian and Justin with their arms wrapped around the young boy. It was so cute. That day, they played games, Gus and Justin drew pictures and Brian would tell his son stories. It was like Brian had his family right there. You could see the love Brian had for his son.”

“No further questions.”

“Your witness, Mr. Standing.” the judge said.

“Miss Navotny, have you ever seen Mr. Kinney get angry?”

“Other than that time when he hit my son, no.”

“What about all the fights he was involved in in school?”

“When I think about them now, I know it wasn’t Brian’s fault. He was defending my son or anyone who needed it. Brian took care of his ‘family’.”

“Does this family include his mother and father?”

“Hell no. Sorry your honor. This is the family we call our friends. We aren’t blood but are family. We look out for each other and that’s what Brian is doing: looking out for his son.”

“No further questions,” Matt replied as he took his seat.

“Any further witnesses, Mr. Burnett?” the judge asked.

“No your honor.”

“Then you can call your first witness, Mr. Standing.”

“I call Melanie Marcus to the stand.”


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 

 

She took her seat beside the judge.

“Miss. Marcus, what do you do for a living?”

“I’m a lawyer.”

“Have you handled many custody cases?”

“Yes, I have handled a few. I practice family law.”

“How would you state your relationship to Mr. Kinney?”

“We don’t get along. He only thinks of himself as long as he gets something out of it.”

“What do you mean?”

“We had a fund raiser for the GLC, that’s the Gay and Lesbian Centre. Brian told us that he would be willing to throw together a fundraiser to help the centre but he wanted a percentage if he did that. We eventually agreed and when we stepped inside the centre, there were games going on that were tasteless and offensive.”

“Did you ever want Mr. Kinney for the father of your child?”

“No. I told Lindsey we could go with a donor but she wanted to have the father know her child. We argued about it and I eventually gave in because I loved her. I would give her anything.”

“What happened after that?”

“We sat down with Brian and told him we wanted him to be the father on one condition: that he signed his rights over to me when the child was born. He agreed.”

“But when the time came what happened?”

“He was ready to sign the papers and then said no. I was furious. Then I came up with the million-dollar life insurance policy. If he wasn’t going to sign his rights over we thought that Gus should have some form of protection if something should happen to his father.”

“No further questions.” Matt went and sat behind his desk.

“Miss. Marcus, what happened when you went to get married?” Jim asked.

“Our wedding was falling apart. Brian stepped in and got family members to help. We got the wedding we always wanted.”

“What happened before that? Did you not get Mr. Kinney to help with another problem?”

“Yes. I couldn’t get in touch with Lindsey and when I heard a man’s voice on the answering machine, I panicked. I went to Brian for help. That’s when we found out that Lindsey needed help with the bills and asked one of the teachers she knew to move in with her. She told us that Guillaume needed a green card to stay in the States and that he would help Lindsey with the bills. Brian told Lindsey if she would marry me that he would sign over his rights to us. We agreed.”

“What happened the night that Mr. Kinney went to the Leather Ball?”

“I got a message that Lindsey was going out of town for a few days and that Gus would be with them. So I headed over to Brian’s place. When I got there, Justin was about to give my son a hot bottle of milk. I asked him if he tested it on his arm and before he could answer, Brian came home. I was furious that Brian went out and left our son with a babysitter when he was the one that was suppose to be looking after him. I told Brian to get my son ready and to get the car seat out of the jeep.”

“Did you realize that by removing the child from Mr. Kinney that was kidnapping?”

“How could it be? He’s my son!”

“No he’s not,” Jim replied as he walked over to his desk and retrieved a paper. “I have an affidavit from your clerk, Your Honor, stating that there never were any documents brought forward through this court pertaining to Gus Marcus-Petersen to be adopted by said witness. Now, Miss Marcus, why didn’t you have this said petition brought through the courts when you got married?”

“There were so many papers; I thought they were amongst them.”

“Did you not check which documents you had in your hands? You are a lawyer after all are you not?”

“Yes. There were so many things going on at the time. After Brian signed his rights over to us and after we got married, I had many papers to file with the courts. I thought that was included.”

“Did you ever want Mr. Kinney to be the donor of your child?”

“No, I wanted Lindsey to go with a donor but she refused. She wanted the father of her child to have a father.”

“If Mr. Kinney signed over his rights, why did you push to have Mr. Kinney look after his son?”

“Because Brian is his father. He should be looking after his son.”

“But Mr. Kinney is not his father after he signed his rights over, was he?”

“No.”

“So, why should Mr. Kinney be responsible for giving money to you to raise him?”

“I never asked for the money, Lindsey did that on her own. I never found out about it until later.”

“What happened when Gus was to go to summer school?”

“We asked Brian to give us money for that because I was having problems with my pregnancy. So I had to take time off.”

“Did Mr. Kinney want information on the school so that he could send them the money?”

“Yes. However, he refused to send us the money. We looked over our money situation and decided that we could pull it off.”

“Why did you ask Mr. Kinney for help when he got the two of you back together?”

“Because I knew he would do anything to have his son back in his life. He told me that if we went over to the house and got Lindsey to see what she was doing was wrong that he would sign over his rights to me if Lindsey and I got back together. Lindsey agreed.”

“How did you track Mr. Kinney down when you couldn’t find him?”

“I eventually found him at the Liberty Gym.”

“You mean to tell me you went into an all male gym to confront Brian about what was happening to Lindsey? Did you not also barge into Mr. Kinney’s loft when he was supposed to be babysitting your son?”

“Yes. I wanted to surprise Brian to see if he was taking care of his son properly. When I saw Justin about to give him a bottle I took Gus out of his arms and told him you never give a hot bottle of milk to a child.”

“Did you see him test it on his arm?”

“No.”

“Did you know he has a younger sister that he took care of?”

“Yes.”

“Do you call Mr. Kinney other names in front of Gus?”

“Yes because he’s lived up to those names.”

“Do you realize how much of an impact that will have on his life when he knows that you call his father names?”

“I guess I don’t.”

“What is a Bris, Miss Marcus?”

“A Bris is a Jewish ceremony where the foreskin is cut off on a child that is eight days old.”

“What did Mr. Kinney do when he found out what this was?”

“He barged into our home and stopped the procedure.”

“What did he do after he stopped it?”

“He said that if we stopped the procedure, he would sign the million dollar life insurance policy. We did as he asked.”

“So he was willing to protect his son when no one else would, isn’t that right?”

“Yes.”

“What happened the night that Gus got sick?”

“I called Brian to let him know. When we got to the hospital, they wouldn’t let me in because I was not Gus other parent. Brian argued with the staff that I was his other parent but since I had no proof they said that Brian could go with his son. I told Brian to take his blanket and make sure that they were all right.”

“Does this not show that Mr. Kinney loves his son?”

“Yes, I guess it does,” Mel replied as she bowed her head.

“No further questions Your Honor,” Jim replied.

“You next witness, Mr. Standing.”

“I call Lindsey Petersen to the stand.”

Lindsey took her seat on the witness stand and sworn in.

“Now, Miss Petersen, are you the biological mother of Gus Marcus-Petersen?”

“Yes I am.”

“How did this come about?”

“When Mel and I wanted to have a child, she wanted a donor but I wanted Brian to father my son. We argued about it for a while and she finally gave in.”

“Why not a donor?”

“I wanted my child to grow up and know his father. A child deserves to know their parents.”

“Did Mr. Kinney not sign his rights over to Ms. Marcus?”

“No. We presented Brian with the papers and he said no. However, when Gus got sick and the nurse wouldn’t let Mel come to the back because she wasn’t his parent, he did it then. He took the papers with him and said he would bring them back.”

“Isn’t that what broke you and Ms. Marcus up?”

“Yes. When Brian didn’t return with the papers, Mel and I got into an argument. Mel told me that if Brian didn’t sign the papers she was going to leave. One week later, she walked out.”

“What finally made Mr. Kinney sign the papers?”

“He found out that I was going to marry a man. I met Gui at a University function. During that time, we got to know one another. He told me that he was going to be deported unless he could obtain a Green Card. I thought long and hard on this and I finally told him that I needed help at home with my son and with the bills. We agreed to get married. When Mel found this out she went to Brian to stop this farce. Brian told me he was going to sign the papers if Mel and I got back together.”

“What was his reason for doing this?”

“He told us that he would rather see Gus with two parents that love him than be part of a family that wasn‘t real.”

“No further questions, your honor.”

“Now Miss Petersen,” James said, “why didn’t you go with a donor?”

“Because I wanted my son to know his father.”

“But didn’t Ms. Marcus want to go with a donor?”

“Yes.”

“So Ms. Marcus didn’t want to know who father your child?”

“No. She said that she didn’t want anyone involved on how our child was raised.”

“So why did you pick Mr. Kinney to be the father of your child?”

“I knew about Brian’s past and I thought if he had a child the maybe he would treat his child differently from when he grew up. I wanted Brian to know his child and to love him.”

“What is Gus’ last name on the birth certificate?”

“Kinney.”

“Why would you put Mr. Kinney’s last name on the birth certificate?”

“So if Gus wanted to find his father if anything happened then he could.”

“So if you had gone with a donor then that spot would be open?”

“Yes.”

“Would you not have gotten help from the donor if anything happened to your child?”

“No.”

“Why weren’t the custody papers filed when the two of you got married?”

“I don’t know. I left all that stuff up to Mel. I don’t know why she didn’t do it.”

“How much time does Mr. Kinney spend with his son?”

“When Brian knows I’m going to take Gus to the park he usually accompanies us. Whenever Justin Taylor comes over to baby sit for us, Brian usually tags along. When Mel and I get busy on weekends with our jobs, we ask Brian to take care of him. It would depend on the situation.”

“So you’re saying that Gus spends about ten hours a week with his son. Would a donor do that?”

“No, a donor wouldn’t know he had a son.”

“What happened when you went to get your son into summer school?”

“There were a lot of people that were against two lesbians raising a child and wouldn’t accept our application. I went to Brian about this and I suggested that we go as parents to get Gus into the best school. It worked.”

“But what did you say to Brian that day while you were waiting for the appointment?”

“I told him that I wished this was real and that we would really be married.”

“Isn’t it true that you wish that you had the white picket fence home with Brian?”

“Yes.” Lindsey bowed her head not wanting to see Brian’s reaction.

“Why were you all running to Canada?”

“After the bombing, Mel and I thought it would be best to move away from all the hatred. Our children needed to be safe.”

“So you were not punishing Brian?”

“No.”

“Then why let him spend all that time with his son only to rip it all away by moving away?”

“Those were events that could be further from the truth. I wanted Brian to know his son. Brian loves his son.”

“What is Mr. Kinney referred to when Ms. Marcus talks about him?”

“She calls him asshole.”

“And this is sometimes right in front of his son, is it not?”

“Yes.”

“Are you in love with Mr. Kinney?”

“Yes.”

“So if you love Mr. Kinney and he didn’t return your affections, isn’t that the reason you were going to move to Canada? You were going to rip his son away from him because he didn’t return you affections?”

“Yes.”

Brian couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“Then why did you let Mr. Kinney fall in love with his son?”

“Because he is Gus’ father.”

“No more questions, your Honor.”

“Any more witnesses, Mr. Standing?”

“No your Honor.”

“I would like to talk to Gus Kinney in my chambers. I have a Child Advocate present to help with his decisions. Then I will consider all this testimony and return with a verdict in one hour.”

“All rise,” the bailiff stated.

The judge went into his chamber and made a quick call to his son at the INS. This would make his decision a lot easier to know the law about Green Card fraud.

After his call to his son, he called his secretary for Gus.

Gus took his seat in front of the judge’s desk with the Child Advocate taking a seat beside him.

“Now, Gus,” the judge started, “may I call you Gus?”

“Yes,” Gus replied.

“I want to ask you a few questions, is that all right?”

“Yes, my daddy told me to tell the truth.”

“That’s right. So who would you like to live with when this is all over?”

“I would like to live with my two daddies. They play games with me, we go to the park and play soccer and go to the zoo. We have lots of fun together.”

“Do you have fun with your mommies?”

“Only when they aren’t working. They work too many hours to spend time with me.”

“Do you want to move to Canada?”

“No. I will have to make new friends. I want to stay here with Daddy.” Big fat tears made their way down Gus’ face. “I would miss everyone.”

“That’s okay; I would miss my friends also.”

“Can I ask a favor?” Gus asked.

“If I can make it happen, sure,” the judge replied.

“If you decide on me living with my two dads, then I want Justin to adopt me. What no one knows is that I know that Justin named me. He’s been there right from the beginning of my life. I love him as I love my father. So could you make that happen?”

“I’ll see what I can do.” He then turned to the Child Advocate. “You can go with this woman to your mommies.” He turned to the woman. “Thanks.”

“Your welcome, your Honor,” the Child Advocate woman replied. Both let the chamber and made their way back to Lindsey and Mel.

z88;

***********

After the judge left the courtroom, Brian turned to stare at Lindsey. When he saw her face, he just shook his head. He couldn’t believe that she was going to do this to him. Take his only son away from him because she couldn’t have him.

“Brian, I can’t believe what Lindsey tried to do,” Justin stated. “Doesn’t she have a heart?”

“After all I did for that woman, I don’t really know her.”

Justin placed his hand on top of Brian’s shoulder to show his love.

“Brian why don’t we get a cup of coffee while we wait?” Justin asked.

Brian only nodded.

“Brian, I have a few calls to make and will meet you outside at the coffee vendor.” James wanted to give Brian and Justin a few moments together to take in what happened. He didn’t realize that what he got Lindsey to say was the truth and that it would hurt Brian the way it did.

Brian and Justin got coffee and sat on a bench in the park across from the courthouse. Both of them were quiet.

After a little while, James Burnett sat with his own coffee. He looked to Brian.

“I didn’t know this was going to happen,” James stated.

“It had to come out sooner than later,” Brian replied. “I didn’t know she felt that way about me. If I hadn’t been gay maybe but, God what a mess.” Brian rubbed his hands across his face.

“We’ll get through this, Brian,” Justin said while rubbing his hand up and down Brian’s back trying to relieve the tension.

Just then, the bailiff showed up.

“It’s time, Mr. Burnett.”

The three men rose and made their way to the courthouse.

They entered and took their seats. Brian looked at Lindsey again but she didn’t turn her head.

“All rise.”

The judge took his seat.

“This case was one of the oddest cases I have ever presided over. Before me, I see two sets of parents who love their child and have no means of working it out.

From what I have heard, Mr. Kinney’s past is not in question here. It is what is happening now. Mr. Kinney has his own business, a house for the child to grow up in, and a father who loves his child. I made some phone calls in my chambers which helped my decision clearer.”

“Now both mothers want Mr. Kinney out of their son’s life because the birth mother is still in love with Mr. Kinney and that his lifestyle is still in question. I don’t see that here. Mr. Kinney and Mr. Taylor are in a loving relationship that would be the envy of any child.”

“Miss Petersen, running to Canada will not make hatred go away. What Mr. Kinney said in his statement is true: you will find it hard to get jobs without a Visa, and it will be a while before you could get any health care to become available to your family. As for Ms. Marcus, it will be two years before she could work at any law firm until she retains her bar exam to get her license to practice law.”

“Now the phone calls I made in my chambers pertain to Miss. Petersen. When you decided to help this Gui DuPre to obtain a Green Card, did you know you were breaking the law?”

“No, you honor,” Lindsey replied.

“Well, that phone call made my decision for me. I am granting sole custody to Mr. Brian Kinney on those grounds. I phoned INS on what were the results if a person tried to defraud the government. They told me that you could get up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for deceiving the government of a false marriage.(*)

“So it is the decision of this court for Mr. Brian Kinney to retain full custody of Gus Marcus-Petersen. Mr. Burnett, I would like to talk to you and the defendants along with Gus in my chambers. Mr. Bailiff, take Miss Petersen into custody pending the charges that INS is placing against her. Court is dismissed.”

The sound of the gavel coming down made anything final.

Brian shook his head not believing in what he heard: Lindsey was probably going to jail because of Gui. He rose from his seat and the three men walked to the judges chambers. On the way, Brian stopped when the cuffs were placed on Lindsey’s wrists. He looked at her as she cried. Brian shook his head again not believing in what this day was going to turn out to be.

Brian and Justin took up the seats in front of the judge’s desk with Gus sitting on Brian’s knee. James pulled up another chair beside them.

“Now,” the judge started to say as he took off his robe, hung it up and took his seat. “I had a special request from one Mr. Gus Marcus-Petersen while we were in my chambers. We had a very interesting conversation him and me. Gus why don’t you tell your fathers what we discussed.”

Gus wore a big smile as he got off Brian’s lap and turned to his fathers.

“I asked that man behind me, the judge, if he could grant me a special request.”

“And what was that ‘special request’?” Brian asked.

“I want Justin to adopt me. I know that Justin named me and has been there for me since I was born. I heard Mama and Mommie talk about it all the time. But I want a special name to go along with this.” He turned to the judge. “Can I have that?”

“I just happen to have your request on my desk. I have a blank space in front of me to fill in your new name. So what is your new name?”

“I want my new name to be Gus Taylor-Kinney.”

“Are you sure about this, sonny boy?” Brian asked.

“Yes daddy,” Gus replied. “I love Justin just as much as I love you.”

Justin looked to Brian as tears fell down both Justin’s cheeks. He couldn’t be happier to hear Gus talk about him like this. He loved that little boy like his own son.

Gus turned to Justin. “Why are you crying, Papa?”

New tears made their way down when Justin heard his new name. He grabbed Gus and hugged him tight.

“These are happy tears,” Justin cried. He pulled Gus away from him. “Remember we talked about what happy tears and sad tears were about? These are the happy tears. I would be proud of you to be my son as well. I love the name you gave me.”

“Well it would be silly to call both of you Daddy, would it not?” Gus questioned.

“Yes that would be confusing,” Justin replied. He sat Gus on his lap with his arms around him. He then wiped his tears away.

“So it is settled then,” the judge asked. He wrote in the space, Gus Taylor-Kinney. “You are now family, Gus.”

“Yipee!” Gus exclaimed as he raised his arms.

“Give me a few minutes and I will have this filled in properly.” The judge rose from his desk and left the room.

A few minutes later, the judge came back and sat behind his desk. He signed the four documents and then handed over all copies to the men.

“Sign this Mr. Kinney and you will have full custody of your son. Mr. Taylor, sign this one and he will be your son as well. I will have them processed in court now so there is no delay. Congratulations.” The judge then handed over the copies to James and he signed as witness.

Everyone shook hands and left the judges chambers.

“We need to celebrate,” Brian stated. “How about we all to go to…” Brian turned to Gus to finish off his sentence.

“Chuck E Cheese!”

“Sounds good.” Brian turned to James. “Want to join us?”

“No thank you. I have another client I need to prepare for. You have a good life with Gus. He seems like a happy child.”

“Thanks for all your help, James.”

Brian, Justin and Gus got into Justin’s SUV and went to eat.

“Gus, why don’t you go play while Justin and I talk,” Brian said.

“All right, Daddy,” Gus replied.

“Are you going to help Lindsey out?” Justin asked as he took the menus from the server.

“No,” Brian replied as he looked at the menu. “She got herself into that one so she can get herself out of it. Besides, what can I do? This is one time that there is nothing I can do.”

“What if she is just fined?” Justin asked.

“She can do what she wants. She could have come to me for help but she didn’t. She got herself into this, she can get herself out. I’m done with her.”

“Okay,” Justin replied. He then looked at the menu.

“That’s it?” Brian asked as he put down the menu. “You’re not going to argue with me about my decision?”

“Nope. Brian, I know that you have helped all of us in one way or another and you’re right. She got herself into this without asking for help. Right now all our money is tied up in the business.”

“What I can’t realize is that she has been in love with me all these years. That is why she wanted me to father her child: so that she can have a hold on me whenever she needed something. I love her as a sister would a brother.”

“I know Brian. Wait until the family hears about this. They are not going to believe this.”

“I have a feeling that Mel has already told Ted. It will make its way through the family before we get home. How about you go to the office with Gus and I will go home to deflect Deb and Mikey. I know those two will show up before I get home.”

“All right. I’ll go see if Suzie needs any help. Gus can give me a hand.”

Just then, Gus came running over.

“Daddy, I’m hungry.” Gus took his seat beside Justin.

“Let’s eat then,” Justin replied.

z88;

***********

Brian drove Justin to the office then took off to the loft. As he drove up, he saw Deb and Mikey getting out of Deb’s car.

“Deb, Mikey, I guess you already know what happened?”

“Listen you little shit,” Deb shouted on the street. “What have you done to those girls?”

“How about we go to the loft and talk. We don’t need the neighbours listening.”

They all made their way to the loft and Brian shut the door.

“Now before you both start in on me, this was not my fault. This was the girls idea of running off before either one of them knew what they were getting themselves into.” Brian went to the fridge and got water for them all.

“What the hell does that mean?” Mikey spoke up.

“What I said to the judge is the truth. They were running to Canada to protect their family but what they didn’t think about was what they were going to do about jobs. They had no working Visas, no health care for the kids, Mel wouldn’t be able to work as a lawyer for two years until she could write her bar exam for Canadian law and Lindsey would have no job. So what I did was stop them before any of that happened. Then I find out that Gus is still my son. Mel never put through the rights I signed over to make her Gus’ other legal parent.”

“None of us thought of those things,” Deb replied as she took a drink of water. “What happened that Lindsey got arrested? Was that your doing also?”

“No, she did that all by herself. Do you remember when she was going to marry that man to help with the bills? Well, she is going to be brought up on charges to defraud the government. It’s illegal to get a Green Card for a person so that they could live here. She could have come to me for help with money but she didn’t. I have talked to Justin about this and we have agreed that we are not going to help them. All our money is tied up in the business.”

“So you can’t help them at all?” Deb asked. She was now getting the full picture of what was going on.

“No, we can’t,” Brian replied. “We wish we could but everything is tied up in the business. Since Lindsey is in trouble, I will let Mel and JR live here. I won’t let them live on the streets because of their living situation.”

“Where are you and Justin going to live?” Deb asked.

“When I proposed to Justin a few months back, I bought him a house in West Virginia. We’re going to live there and Mel and JR can live here. Mikey, I might be a ‘little shit’ like you mother called me but I do have a heart when it comes to kids. I love JR as if she’s my own and I won’t have her living on the streets. They can stay here as long as they want.”

“Thanks Brian,” Mikey said. “To tell you the truth, I didn’t want my daughter moving away. I would have missed so much. Thanks.”

“Now I have to go to the office to rescue Justin before Gus takes over his job.”

“Thanks, Brian,” Deb replied as she hugged him. “I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. Do you need any help packing up this place if Mel and JR live here?”

“I would greatly appreciate the help. There might not be much but with the business, I could use all the help. Thanks.” Brian turned to Mikey. “Mikey, I know how you feel about JR. I was doing what was best for the kids.”

“Thanks Brian,” Mikey replied with tears in his eyes. He gave Brian a huge hug. “I’m glad the kids are staying.”

“I need to make a phone call,” Brian stated. “We’ll all get together this weekend and pack up. The house will be ready by then.”

“We’ll get out of your hair,” Deb replied. “Take care of yourself, Brian.”

“Thanks Maw,” Brian replied as he gave her a hug.

After they left, Brian breathed a little easier. He sat on the sofa and thought. He didn’t know if he could handle Deb and Mikey but he was surprised by his own actions. As he thought of Mel and JR, he knew that he changed. The old Brian would have given up on the women but he knew in his heart that he couldn’t do that to Mel and the kids. Lindsey, on the other hand, was what shocked him. He didn’t know that Lindsey loved him like that. As he thought of the past, he knew now that what Lindsey did was because she loved him like a couple. Brian now understood why Lindsey wanted him to father Gus: so she could have a part of him that no one else could have. He grabbed his phone and dialled.

“Mel.”

“What do you want asshole? Haven’t you done enough damage to my family?” Mel screamed.

“Could you come over? I need to talk to you.”

“What do you need to say that wasn’t already said in court? You ripped my family apart, you bastard!” Mel shouted.

“I know what I did and I’m sorry,” Brian whispered.

“The Almighty Brian Kinney is apologizing? Hell must have frozen over.”

“Just come over to the loft, please.”

Brian heard a click. He didn’t know if she was coming over but he waited for ten minutes until he heard the buzzer.

“Yes?”

“It’s me, Mel.”

“Come on up.”

Brian opened the door when he heard the knock.

“Mel.”

“What’s this about?” Mel took up a spot by the counter with her arms crossed over her chest.

“I’m sorry for what I did,” Brian began. “Now hear me out. I knew that you girls were not prepared for the move to Canada and when I found out that my rights to my son were not put through the courts, I had to do something. This was the only thing I could think about. I didn’t know that what Lindsey did with Gui was going to come back and bite her in the ass. I wish I could help but all my money is tied up in the business. What she did was her own fault. She could have come to me. What I want to say to you is that since I know you are living at Ted’s, I want to let you live here with JR so that you have some place to call home. You can stay here as long as you want.”

“Where are you all going to live?” Mel was puzzled by this arrangement.

“I bought Justin a house in West Virginia when I proposed a few months ago. Its being set up as we speak with furniture. I’m going to move this weekend and I want you both to live here. I’m not some heartless shit, as Deb would say to have you live out on the streets. I do have a heart when it comes to the kids. I want what’s best for them. So will you be moving in? We can do it this weekend as we move out. Deb and Mikey are coming over to help me pack. What do you say?”

Mel’s eyes got big. This was not the Brian she knew from before.

“Why are you doing this?” Mel asked.

“I want my family together. We may be dysfunctional but we are family after all. I can’t have my original family but I want this one. We all need to stay together for the children. At least do it for them.”

Mel couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This is not like the Brian Kinney she knew and hated. Now that hatred was waning. She watched the change that was taking place on Brian’s face. Mel knew Brian loved Gus but she didn’t know that love included JR. This was something that shocked her.

“Brian, thank you,” Mel said. “I see before me a changed man and I’m beginning to like him a little bit. Maybe there is another Brian I never knew existed. I will take you up on your offer. What are we going to do about furniture?”

“I will leave all this. We have new furniture for the house. We’ll get a new mattress for the bed and put up a screen in the alcove for JR. Thanks, Mel. Would you be able to get your job back?”

“I talked with my partners and they are going to accept me back. I will have my position back.”

“Just to let you know, all you have to do is pay the utilities. I’m not going to charge you for rent.”

“You have to let me give you rent. I know, how about I look after Gus on weekends you want to spend with Justin? I’m going to miss that boy.”

“We could do that. I was going to offer you to look after Gus. I might be heartless but I won’t break up your relationship with our son.”

“Thanks Brian.” Mel went over to Brian and gave him a hug. “If you tell anyone about this hug, I will deny it.”

“That’s between you and me.” Brian winked at her. “So I will see you this weekend. We’ll move out and then we’ll all help you move in.”

“All right Brian,” Mel agreed. She left the loft with a happier heart.

z88;

***********

Brian walked into Kinnetik with a smile on his face. Everything in his life was falling into place. He grabbed his phone messages from the hand that was raised. Cynthia also rose and followed him into his office.

“Anything needing my immediate attention?” Brian asked as he flipped through his messages.

“Nothing, Brian. Everything’s all-quiet. Except for a mini you walking around.” Cynthia had a smirk on her face.

“Justin and I have custody of my son. I need to add both of them on my medical. Are they in the Art Department?”

“Yes, both of them.”

“Good. I’m taking the rest of the day off with Justin. Just to let you know Justin adopted Gus this afternoon.”

“I wondered when I heard Gus call Justin, Papa. I’m happy for you. Now get out of here and go enjoy your family.”

“Oh before I forget, we will have a different address come this weekend.”

“All right,” Cyn replied. “Now get out of here. I have everything covered.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Brian put a few files into his briefcase that he wanted to look over tonight. He then went down to the Art Department and stood at the doorway. There, his son was sitting at a desk with one of the artists playing a game on the computer. His son was definitely a clone of him. Like Brian could charm a man, his son could charm a woman. He walked over to his son.

“Hey sonny boy,” Brian said as he crouched down to his son’s level. “Ready to go?”

“Hi Daddy,” Gus replied. “Yup. Let me go get Papa.”

“Papa?” the artist said.

“Yup, that’s what I call Justin now,” Gus replied. “He became my Papa this afternoon. He adopted me.”

“That’s great news Gus,” the artist replied. She turned his chair and Gus slid off.

“Thanks,” Brian stated.

“No problem. He’s a great kid, boss.”

“It’s Brian,” Brian replied.

“Thanks Brian.” The artist then went back to work on the campaign she was working on.

Gus came back with Justin’s hand clasped in his own.

“Let’s go home,” Brian said. “I have some news for the both of you.”

They all left the office building and climbed into the new SVU that Justin bought a few days ago. They entered the loft and all sat on the sofa. Brian told them about what happened with Mel.

“So Momma will be looking after me sometimes?” Gus asked.

“Yes,” Brian replied. “Your Momma will be living here with JR and we’ll be out at the new home this weekend.”

“What’s going to happen to Mommie?” Gus asked.

“I don’t know Gus,” Brian replied. “She…” Brian couldn’t say what was about to happen Lindsey.

“Is she going to be going away for a while?” Gus asked.

“I don’t know,” Brian replied. “It will depend on what the judge says.”

“That’s all right, Daddy,” Gus replied. “I don’t understand what she did but will you explain it to me when I’m older?”

“I will definitely do that,” Brian replied. He knew his son was bright for his age but there were some things that would need to be explained to him. “Come here.”

Gus went to Brian and climbed on his lap.

“I love you Daddy,” Gus stated as he hugged his father.

“What am I, chopped liver?” Justin asked with a smile on his face.

“I don’t know about chopped liver but I love you to Papa.”

All three had their arms wrapped around each other. They were definitely a family.

THE END

 

*(I looked this up on the internet and this is the result of what that could happen.)


End file.
